Fortune Favoured the Queen
by Harukicchi
Summary: Haruki decided on the night she was planning to kill her target that it was all-or-nothing. She had thought that Fortune Favoured the Brave. Unfortunately, Haruki was the servant of a queen.


Like the first night, Isuke came back to the room to find Haruki fumbling around like the idiot she was. Unfortunately for her, she had to share a room with someone, unlike Nio, who had a room all to herself. She was now used to the sight of the messy red mane moving round the room hastily.

"What _are_ you doing?" Isuke asked, raising a perfectly shaped brow.

"Oh. Okaeri, Isuke-sama. Just planning my attire, is all." Haruki smiled, pocky sticking out of her mouth, going through more articles of similar looking clothing.

"You _plan_ your attire?" She smirked. "With what you're wearing now Isuke didn't think you actually planned your attire. Are you sure you didn't buy all those at some rundown, random store? But," she said, pointing her finger at Haruki, "I guess cheap clothes are meant to look good on poor people."

"Cheap clothes look good on me, Isuke-sama, see, because it's me." Haruki chuckled, inspecting another one of her white shirts.

"Oh? " Isuke sat on her bed, absentmindedly filing her already well-groomed nails. "What are you planning your attire for anyway?"

"The assassination." Haruki stated plainly. It seems all the planning was for nothing, since all she laid out was another set of the clothes she was wearing now.

"Isuke didn't know you were going next?" She looked up from her nails, staring at Haruki, who was now packing all her clothes into her luggage. The rest that couldn't fit were left strewn on the floor. "Clean up your mess, you mutt. Before Isuke cleans you up instead. "

Haruki looked at her apologetically, lightly scratching the side of her face.

"Sorry, Isuke-sama." She smiled.

Really, who would've thought that someone with a smile like hers would be an assassin? But money is important after all. In fact, money was the thing Isuke loved the most in the world, only second to her parents.

"You're just like a little boy, leaving your things all over the place." Isuke sighed, going back to the task of shaping a chipped nail. Her brow furrowed in irritation.

"Well, Isuke-sama, for someone in our line it's weird how your nails- your hands actually- are so well maintained." Haruki commented, looking at her own hands. "Yeah, as expected, your nails and hands are the most beautiful I've seen. Though your nails are thinned."

"Shut your untamed mouth, idiot. Can't you see that Isuke takes good care of them? Not like an uncivilised muscle head," she shot an accusing look at Haruki, "Isuke cares about appearances, after all."

Isuke felt uncomfortable with how Haruki said her hands were the "most beautiful" she's seen. _That muscle head and her unconsciously flirtatious mouth._

"Isuke knows that you use hand cream too, Haruki." She looked up at Haruki, who has now stripped her clothes and was standing only in her underwear. "At least you're trying. "

"Doesn't seem to work though." Haruki brought her hands up in front of Isuke. "Still rough, see?" Then she took Isuke's hand, the one she was meticulously filing, and held it. Haruki intertwined her fingers with hers and winked. "Mhm, nothing as soft as Isuke's hand."

Her eyes widened and Isuke pulled her hand back immediately. "What do you think you're doing you brute? Isuke doesn't remember giving you permission to touch me like that. "

She delivered a threatening glare.

Haruki was used to her threats by now. Despite the numberous threats Isuke spat, Haruki thought Isuke wasn't as bad as she seemed. Someone who loved her Papa and Mama as much as Haruki loved her family wasn't a bad person. Haruki felt bad for feeling it, but she sees Isuke as a someone with a bark but no bite. Not to her, anyway.

Haruki simply draped a towel over her shoulder and headed into the shower.

"Sorry, sorry, Isuke-sama. I'm gonna take a bath now. Stop frowning so much or your pretty face will wrinkle you know?"

"Shut up and wash all that filth off you, you nut. " Isuke replied, going back to filing her nails. She ignored Haruki's unintentional compliment.

Though, Isuke admitted, she didn't expect Haruki to be the one taking her turn so soon. She thought Haruki saw this as a 'peaceful life', and she knew, just from Haruki's annoying smile, that the pocky-eating girl didn't like being an assassin. Isuke then realised that maybe, something had happened to Haruki's family.

 _Such an annoying, heavy burden she has to carry._ Isuke thought, looking over at the framed picture by Haruki's bed.

Haruki hummed to herself in the shower, trying to remain optimistic. With the target's "guardian" following her around like that, an Azuma on top of it, Haruki was nervous. But she also knew that with Azuma's state now, even Haruki had a chance of winning.

She clenched her fist. Even she knew that her own physical abilities were not something to be trifled with.

Haruki came out the shower with only a towel wrapped around her, then she put on her prepared attire. She noticed that Isuke was carefully examining the framed photograph that she placed beside her bed.

* * *

"Are you doing it tonight?" Isuke asked, allowing a tiny bit of concern to weave in with her question.

Haruki was painting her nails with the baby pink nail polish she seemed to like. Isuke noticed how clumsy Haruki was, painting out of the corners of her fingernails, painting too little or too much over the some spots and realised that Haruki was much more feminine than she thought she was. A tomboy, sure, but a pretty attractive one. One whose presence she could tolerate more than others. Haruki's brows were knitted in concentration, the most serious Isuke's seen her.

Isuke cleared her throat. She didn't like being ignored.

" _Haruki,_ " she purred, "are you ignoring Isuke?"

"Ah." Haruki looked up from her nails, usual smile back on her face. "Nah, sorry Isuke-sama. Just trying to get this done quick."

"Isuke doesn't like it when you keep apologising. Half of our conversations are made up of you apologising." Isuke sighed. "You know, it's not going to be easy with Haru's little mutt hovering over her like that."

"Shouldn't," Haruki grinned, her usual cheerful air lost. This was a grin that sent chills even down the spine of the sadistic assassin, "fortune favour the brave?"

Isuke scoffed at the redhead standing before her, unable to bring herself to process whatever the hell Haruki just said.

"Isuke didn't quite get that, could you maybe explain what you said for a _human_ to understand? Isuke's not a dumb _bird brain_ like you are. "

"Isuke."

The way Haruki said her name made Isuke's smile dissolve from her lips. It was scary, she admitted, when the usual Haruki was serious.

"If-" Haruki started, removing the chocolate pocky from her mouth. "-we ever meet again, maybe we'd be better friends eh?" She smiled again, reverting back to her normal self.

"Aw. " Isuke flipped one of her curls, then pressed a finger to Haruki's chest, "don't talk like you're going to die, Haruki. Don't forget that Isuke needs her little Servant. "

Haruki seemed to have a plan, but Isuke wasn't going to pry if her roommate didn't want to explain.

Haruki chuckled.

"Isn't it easy for Isuke-sama to wrap servants around her finger?" Haruki replied, wagging her pinky in front of Isuke.

"None of them are as dumb as you are. " Isuke responded, smile on her face.

None of them could handle Isuke's insults and temper as well as Haruki could and none of them were as patient as she was.

 _Haruki is the only one._

"Well, Isuke-sama. I've got a couple more people to serve." Haruki said, smiling.

"How mean. Is Isuke that unimportant to you?" Isuke frowned, pretending to be hurt.

"Maybe you've already selfishly forced your way into my priorities..." Haruki muttered, taking what Isuke noticed was the last stick of Pocky from the packet and snapping the tip off in her mouth. She left the remaining dangling from the corner of her lips.

"Isuke didn't hear that. Don't mumble, idiot." Isuke clicked her tongue in annoyance.

"Isuke-sama, I'm sure as someone who loves your family, you of all people should know how important they are." Haruki said, eyes fleeting towards the picture at her bedside.

"So this is your reason. How cute!" Isuke said, picking up the framed picture.

Haruki snatched it from her with ease.

"Why don't you kill them all? Isuke has always lived that way. " she smiled, leaning against the wall. "You're wasting your time by thinking. Life is too short. Throw all the unnecessary things away and live your life free already. "

Haruki clenched her fist.

"Oh no. " Isuke mocked. "Scary." Clearing her throat, she repeated, "Are you doing it tonight?"

Haruki looked at her, yellow eyes filled with determination.

"Isuke."

Isuke didn't like it when Haruki addressed her by just her name. Actually, Isuke just didn't like it when Haruki was serious.

"Wish me luck." Haruki smiled, playfully pulling on one of Isuke's curls.

Isuke angrily bit Haruki's pocky dangling from the corner of her mouth. She regretted it almost immediately, _Isuke prefers strawberry_ , but swallowed it anyway.

"Don't forget your manners just because you're leaving now. It's Isuke- _sama_ for you, _Sagae_. And even though I love Mama and Papa like how you love your football team of a family, at least Isuke is filthy rich and my parents are not tying me down. You know, Isuke is _selfish_."

"Seems Isuke-sama didn't like chocolate? Promise I'll get you strawberry next time." Haruki simply responded, eyes slowly casting downwards. "Isuke. It was a short period of time, but thanks for everything."

Her hand on the doorknob, Haruki smiled, her eyes missing its usual shine.

"Take good care of your family. Say hi to Mama for me."

The heavy wooden door slammed in front of her and Isuke frowned.

"Of course I will!" She said, hoping Haruki could still hear her.

Then she glared at spot Haruki was just standing before her.

"What..." Her brows crumpled. "...Even though Isuke was giving you advice."

It was a lonely night for Isuke and even painting her toenails couldn't stop her from worrying about Haruki.

 _You better keep your promise, you stupid idiot._

* * *

Unfortunately for Haruki, fortune didn't favour her that night. As she laid under the lights, panting heavily with the familiar stickiness of blood gliding down her forehead, she sighed.

 _Isuke-sama's Pocky._ She recalled. What Isuke proposed was tempting, but Haruki would never kill her family. She would much rather kill herself to get out of this _hell_. She smiled at Isuke's attempt of giving her advice and maybe providing her comfort.

 _Isuke needs her little Servant._

Haruki chuckled weakly. Was that Isuke's twisted way of telling her not to die? If so, Isuke should be glad. Haruki was alive, and so was the Target and her Guardian, and Haruki had failed. Even going all-out couldn't secure her victory, and it was so frustrating, because Haruki didn't even want to be an assassin in the first place. She failed her family, failed herself, failed her mission.

Isuke was pacing Room 2, after failing to find comfort in sleep that night. Something just didn't feel right with Haruki's weird, sinister grin earlier on. Fortune favoured the brave? It made Isuke's heart beat arrhythmatically, a growing sense of unease in her gut. Isuke hoped that if Haruki didn't manage to fulfil her mission, she should survive, at least. She sat herself down on Haruki's bed, which smelt like Haruki's shampoo. No matter how gross she was, at least she always showered before heading to bed. That night, Isuke found comfort in Haruki's lingering scent, falling asleep on her pillow.

Luckily for Isuke, Fortune favoured the Queen.

* * *

The teacher folded over the table, announcing Sagae Haruki's transfer out of Class Black. For once, Isuke was awake in class.

She peeked over at the flowers placed on Haruki's table.

"Idiot. That's what you get for not listening to Isuke's advice, idiot. " She sighed, thinking about how she was absolutely disgusted by that filthy poor girl the first night she met. "I even thought of giving you a manicure. How boring. Pink colour looked good on you Haruki. " She said, more to herself than to anyone else. Isuke decided that she _would_ get that promised strawberry Pocky. Maybe not now, but one day.


End file.
